Bad start, bad finish
Rangers get to Price, Kimbrel
Even though in the end Craig Kimbrel pitched worse than he did, David Price took last night’s loss hard. start — eight innings, three runs allowed — and posted another 10-strikeout game — his sixth, the most in the American League — but the ace-in-salary-only led the Red Sox to defeat for the fifth time in his last seven starts.
The 7-2 loss to the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park, which pushed the Sox down into third place in the AL East behind Baltimore and Toronto, felt like the latest in a series of beatings administered both by and unto Price.
“There’s nothing positive to point at right now, threw 50 pitches through two (innings), still went eight, we still lost. It doesn’t matter,” said Price. “I’ve got to be better. That’s why they brought me here. I’m not doing it right now.”
The emphasis for the last few weeks has been on the Red Sox getting out of the first inning without being in a hole. Since June 12, the Sox have been outscored 30-2 in the first inning. Other than saying he did not execute the belt-high, 92-mph fastball to Shin-Soo Choo like he wanted, Price did not believe that he began the game in a way that left the ballclub vulnerable.
“If I’m the leadoff hitter to a game and I know a fastball’s coming, I’m probably swinging, too,” Price said. “Fifteen days ago in Texas, it was a two-seam in. Today, it was a four-seam away. I’ve got to get better.”
So does Kimbrel, at least in non-save situations. The closer was named to his fifth All-Star Game (the first four in the National League) yesterday, a berth largely gained by virtue of his mostly stellar appearances in save situations. He has 17 saves.
But, six of the nine runs he has allowed have come in non-save situations, where his WHIP is 1.35 compared to 0.64 in save situations. He was used in the ninth inning last night with the Red Sox trailing by a run, 3-2. The bullpen, overextended the past few games, needed Kimbrel to preserve the slim deficit to give them a chance.
Instead, for the first time in his career (388 appearances), Kimbrel failed to record an out. He faced four batters and allowed four runs, three on Robinson Chirinos’ home run off a light stanchion.
“It didn’t happen today — it’s probably one of the worst outings of my career,” Kimbrel said. “It’s disappointing. Figure out what I did wrong, and be ready to go tomorrow.”
Like Price, Kimbrel could not put his finger on what went wrong, or what goes wrong when he enters a game without a lead to preserve.
“I wouldn’t say mentally I go out there any different, I’m still trying to throw strikes and get guys out,” Kimbrel said. “I’ve said this a few times already — the only difference is, when I do my job and get out of the inning, the game’s not over with. Just a rough day all around.”
Manager John Farrell made it clear that he turned to Kimbrel because he was “trying to stay away from guys that have carried a heavy workload, looking for a zero in that case with the middle of the order coming, down a run. In 12 pitches, a lot happened.”
A lot happened to the Red Sox last night.
None of it was good.